More than 300 corporate organisations will be taking part in Earth Hour this Saturday.

Some companies are going beyond the hour in their sustainability drive this year, and they are doing more than turning off the lights.

Shopping malls, cinemas, hotels and even restaurants are prepared to hit the light switch for Earth Hour, which will take place between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.

But for local telco StarHub, it is only the start of a new recycling programme for old mobile phones, laptops, batteries and other electronic waste (e-waste).

Caitlin Fua, assistant vice-president of corporate communications at StarHub, said: “Today we are all familiar with where to recycle paper, where to recycle plastic and glass. But when we talk about electronic waste, people may ask, where can I do that?

It’s easy to recycle at home. Learn about the existing recycling programme at your area and find out the type of items that are acceptable for recycling.

HDB Housing Estates and Landed Property Estates

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has implemented the National Recycling Programme (NRP) since 2001, where recycling bins are provided for residents living in HDB housing estates and landed property estates.

For HDB estates, there is one recycling bin for each block of flats with 3 or 7 times collection per week. The recycling bins are usually located near the Central Refuse Chute (CRC) of newer HDB blocks, beside footpaths or linkways, and placed in open areas.

For landed property estates, one recycling bin is provided for each house with one or two collection per week. There is also a separate collection of garden waste for landed property estates. Plastic bags containing grass, leaves, and small branches can be placed beside the recycling bin.

Find recycling bins near your home via the SLA OneMap under the Environment theme.

Condominiums and Private Apartments

Condominiums and private apartments are not covered under the NRP. However, it is mandatory for condominiums and private apartments to provide recycling facilities for their residents from 1 Nov 2008.

If there’s no recycling facilities at your place, contact your Managing Agents (MAs) and Management Councils (MCs). The MAs and MCs can also refer to the NEA’s online guidebook to learn how to set up a recycling programme.

Find Out What You Can Recycle

You can make use of the recycling programme to recycle items such as paper, plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles, metal cans and old clothing.

Find out what items are acceptable for recycling from this NEA brochure.

What Happens to the Recyclables?

The recyclables are collected by the appointed Public Waste Collector and brought back to their facility. The recyclables are sorted manually or by equipment into the different types of material. The sorted recyclables are then sent to local recycling companies for processing into raw materials or new products, or exported overseas for recycling.

For enquiries on the recycling collection, you can contact the Public Waste Collector providing the recycling collection for your area.

If your company or organisation already has a recycling programme, that’s good and you can recycle at work. If not, it’s time to start one now. Just follow our 6 steps to minimise waste and start recycling at work.

First, you would need to form a team and get commitment from your management and colleagues. Conduct a waste audit and find ways to minimise waste through reduce and reuse. Next, start a recycling programme and educate your staff on how to recycle. Finally, remember to gather feedback, review and improve your recycling programme.

1. Get Commitment and Form a Team

Highlight the benefits of waste minimisation and recycling to your management and colleagues, and get their commitment and support. Form a team to be in-charge of the waste minimisation and recycling programme, and ensure that resources are allocated to implement the programme.

2. Conduct a Waste Audit

A waste audit involves finding out the type and quantity of waste generated, and how the waste are generated and disposed. This audit would help you to identify the problems and opportunities for waste reduction. Learn how to conduct a waste audit.

3. Minimise Waste Through Reduce and Reuse

Based on the waste audit, identify the major waste types and find ways to minimise the waste generation. Reduce them at the source of generation or divert them from disposal through reuse. Refer to our Reduce and Reuse categories for ideas.

4. Set Up a Recycling Programme

After your waste minimisation efforts, identify the remaining waste that can be recycled. Find a recycling contractor to provide recycling bins and collection services. First, you can approach your current waste contractor and check whether they can provide recycling services.

For commercial buildings and industrial estates with recycling programmes, recycling bins or skips are usually placed at certain locations and the recyclables are collected by the recycling contractor.

Educate staff on the new recycling programme – the location of recycling bins, what can be recycled, and where the recyclables end up. The education could be conducted through events, talks and through posters.

6. Review and Improve

Gather feedback about the recycling programme from the staff and conduct checks on the recycling bins to ensure that the correct items are recycled. Monitor the amount of waste generated and recycled. Adjust and improve the recycling programme if necessary.

If You Need Help

Green Future Solutions provides consultancy services to help companies and organisations introduce an effective and sustainable recycling programme in their office. The scope of the recycling programme includes:

Recycling programmes are common in our schools (preschools, primary, secondary and tertiary levels), and they are usually initiated by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or by the school administration.

Recycling bins and recyclables collection are usually provided by the public waste collectors who are in charge of collecting waste from the schools, or by recycling contractors. You can recycle at school using the recycling bins available.

If there is no recycling programme in your school, send a request to your school administration and ask them to increase awareness on recycling and install recycling bins. For more information on school recycling and support from NEA, call 1800-CALL NEA (1800-2255 632) or email Contact_NEA@nea.gov.sg.

Recycling at Preschools

Under the 3R Programme for Preschools, children in kindergartens and childcare centers can deposit their recyclables in recycling bins. NEA also provides awareness kits for teachers to introduce fun educational activities for the children to learn more about the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle).

Recycling at Primary and Secondary Schools

For primary and secondary schools, there is usually a Recycling Corner in each school where students can use the recycling bins and learn more about recycling through the educational materials placed there.

Recycling at Junior Colleges, ITEs, Polytechnics and Universities

For tertiary schools, there are usually several sets of recycling bins placed at strategic locations throughout the school or campus.

Paper is one of the most common types of waste in Singapore and 1.26 million tonnes of paper waste was generated in 2013. The recycling rate of paper is 54% in 2013, and most of this paper waste is sorted, baled and exported overseas for recycling as there are no paper recycling mills in Singapore.

Let’s take a closer look at paper recycling:

1. Types of Paper for Recycling

The different types of paper waste are collected and usually separated into the following categories for recycling.

Newspapers

Corrugated cardboard

Magazines

White office paper

Mixed paper

2. Why Recycle Paper

There are environmental benefits to paper recycling. According to Waste Online:

Producing recycled paper involves between 28 – 70% less energy consumption than virgin paper and uses less water. This is because most of the energy used in papermaking is the pulping needed to turn wood into paper.

Recycled paper produces fewer polluting emissions to air (95% of air pollution) and water. Recycled paper is not usually re-bleached and where it is, oxygen rather than chlorine is usually used. This reduces the amount of dioxins which are released into the environment as a by-product of the chlorine bleaching processes.

3. The Paper Recycling Process

At the paper recycling plant, sorted paper goes into a pulper where they are washed and screened to remove unwanted items like metals and plastics. The paper pulp then undergoes a floatation process to remove inks and adhesives. The resulting paper slurry is spread on wire meshes and drained of water using rollers to form sheets of paper.

Watch this animation video on the paper recycling process from RecycleBank:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWH1Mg8gdic[/youtube]

4. Recycled Paper Products

Paper waste such as white office paper, corrugated cartons and newspapers can be recycled back to its original use. Magazines, mixed paper, newspapers and corrugated cartons are recycled as cardboards, toilet papers, paper towels, egg cartons, kraft paper, etc.

Watch how toilet paper is made from recycled paper:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrg_6dny6Po[/youtube]

5. Paper Recycling in Singapore

In Singapore, about 1.26 million tonnes of paper waste was generated in 2013 and the recycling rate is 54%. Paper waste is usually collected through the recycling programmes and traditionally by the karang guni men, waste paper collectors and traders.

The paper waste are sorted by type, baled or placed in containers, and exported overseas for recycling as there are no paper recycling mills in Singapore.

For companies, you can use the online business waste exchange, Waste is not Waste, to find someone who wants your waste.

7. What Can I Do

You can recycle paper through the various recycling programmes at home, in school and your office, or through the public recycling bins. But before you do so, remember to Reduce and Reuse your paper waste.